


Purple Heart

by Wither



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Military AU, The other characters will be in here as well, i have no clue what i'm doing, mentions of laferry, mentions of zeta society
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 02:55:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3365093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wither/pseuds/Wither
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(I'm absolute shit with summaries but I'll try I guess) Carmilla, a wife and mother, is in the US Marines and gets deployed to the battlefield, how will Laura handle it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've never written a fanfic in my life. Ever. At all. But I had this idea and I couldn't get it out of my head so I thought I'd give it a go. I don't think I'm too good at writing but I was encouraged by some pretty great people (yes, I'm talking about you guys (Celina, Kaitlyn, and Gabby)) so yeah.

One letter can change someone's life, but more so,it can change the lives of the people at around you. That's what one Laura Hollis-Karnstein realized one day as she was sifting through the mail on a Tuesday afternoon. Laura didn't even have to open it to know what it was. Every military spouse knew it was only a matter of time before the letter came. Deployment. Laura sorted through the rest of the mail trying to ignore the letter that was sitting off to the side, mocking her, sent to whisk Carmilla off to the battlefield. 

When Laura finished her post sorting she picked up the left over envelope and slowly made her way back toward their bedroom where she knew Carmilla would still be asleep. She never was one for early rising, how she had made it through boot camp would always be a mystery to Laura. She knew that she should get it over with so they could think about how to explain it to their daughters. In their 7 years of marriage they had had two daughters, Kodi, who was 6 and Juno, who was 5. Laura finally stepped through the doorway of their bedroom to see the snoozing lump of bedsheets and and mop of dark hair that was Carmilla. Laura sighed and a small smile made it's way on to her face. Carmilla hadn't even left yet and Laura was already missing her. She quietly snuck over to the bed before leaning over and gently waking Carmilla with gentle kisses peppered over her face. Carmilla woke with a gentle smirk that faded as soon sad she laid eyes on the letter in Laura's hands. It was going to be a long day.

\------------------------------------------

Carmilla slowly sat up as Laura handed the letter to her. Without a word Laura softly plopped down next to her and leaned against her, resting her head on her shoulder as she did so. Carmilla opened the letter slowly and Laura was reminded for a sick moment of the envelopes that get opened to reveal the winners on award shows. But this was no prize, for all they knew it could be a death sentence. Laura tried not to think about that, but an involuntary shudder passed through her anyways. She looked up to find Carmilla staring at her with an unreadable expression. Laura realized that she had been staring for a while and to break the silence asked "how long?" Carmilla sighed and looked down, gently taking Laura's hand and linking their fingers together. She looked back up and found Laura's eyes before answering. "Ten months." She could see the heart ache in he wife's eyes but knew there was nothing she could do to make it better. She had to go, they both knew that it was a possibility. Laura felt tears building up behind her eyes yet she refused to let them fall. She had to be strong for herself and for her family.

"I leave tomorrow." Carmilla said in a low voice. She gently warped her arms around her wife's shoulders and held her as Laura finally allowed tears to fall. The girls would be coming in to jump up on their bed soon and they had to figure out what to tell them, but for now Laura needed to know that Carm was still there. They stayed like that for what felt like forever curled around one another on their bed, comforting one another and whispering words of love. Laura didn't know what she was going to do. The love of her life was being sent to war tomorrow for ten months and she had no way to know if she would be coming home. Home to Laura, to their daughters, to their family. And ten months of uncertainty was less than 24 hours away.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of Carmilla's last day before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, like I said previously, this is my first fanfic ever and I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. But a huge thanks to Gabby (saving-from-falling.tumblr.com) for being a kick ass editor. Like the best. And of course to Celina and Kaitlyn for being supportive.

Kodi and Juno burst into their parent's bedroom just as Laura's sniffles were dying down. 

"Mama, Mommy, it's almost time for school!" An exuberant Kodi announced. 

Both girls hopped up on their bed, Juno with a bit of assistance from Carmilla (Juno had clearly inherited Laura's size challenges and Carmilla secretly wondered if her wife was that small as a five year old. The thought brought a small smile to her face). 

 

"Mama, are you crying?" Juno asked in a small voice as she made her way over to Laura's lap. 

"Um... No. I'm not crying." Laura croaked through a slightly watery smile. She cleared her throat and smiled brighter. "Mommy and I are going to drop you two off at school and after you get out we can do something fun, how does that sound?" Laura asked, absentmindedly running her fingers through Juno's dark hair and looking between her three family members. 

"Yay!" Squeaked Kodi, "does this mean we can get ice cream?"

"Sure thing Kod." Carmilla replied with a soft chuckle. "Alright little troopers, go get ready for school and Mama and I will meet you two downstairs."

\------------------------------------------

As soon as they had the room to themselves again Laura turned in Carmilla's arms to whisper against her neck. "How are we going to tell then that you'll be gone for ten months?"

Carmilla sighed and tightened her hold around Laura's shoulders. "I think just explaining my deployment as best we can, I suppose." 

At the word deployment, Laura reflexively tightened her hold on her wife as Carmilla went on, "I just hope they'll understand that I'm not leaving because I want to. And that they won't, I don't know, resent me or something." she finished. Laura normally found uncertainty to be rather endearing when it came to Carmilla, but the worry in her voice was near heartbreaking. 

"Hey," she said gently, lifting Carmilla's face from where it was previously staring at the duvet, "they'll understand, and they will never think bad of you or resent you, Carm. You're an amazing mom and they love you." She said, gently combing her hands through Carmilla's bed head. "They'll get it, they can be very mature. Not that you had anything to do with their maturity levels." Laura said teasingly, earning a small snicker and shake of the head from Carmilla. 

"I'll have you know that I can be very mature when I want to be."

"Sure, Jan."

Carmilla narrowed her eyes. "You did not just Brady Bunch me."

Laura looked off innocently.

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" Carmilla said with a smile. "Now come on, we have a long day ahead of us and two little monsters to take to school." 

The two made eye contact as Carmilla stood from the bed and the mood in the room instantly became rather solemn. Laura stretched both her hands out for Carmilla to pull her up with. She did so and Laura quickly curled herself into Carmilla's arms, burrying her head into her chest. She wondered how she was going to handle not having those arms hold her for the next three hundred some days.

\------------------------------------------

After Carmilla and Laura shared a quick and pleasantly chaste shower, they did their separate morning routines and made their way down to the kitchen of their modest two-story home, where they found Kodi helping Juno pour a glass of milk to have with their pop tarts. Carmilla filled a mug of cocoa for Laura and snagged herself half a pop tart from Kodi's plate, getting a "Mama! Mommy's taking my food again!" For which Carmilla received a gentle scolding of from Laura and a kiss to the cheek after being handed her drink. After they all finished breakfast, Laura grabbed her purse, Carmilla's wallet and her car keys and herded her wife and kids out the front door and to the car. 

The ride to the elementary school was filled with a comfortable silence until Kodi's hesitant voice piped up "Mommy, Mama, are you guys...are you guys fighting?" Carmilla whipped her head back to face her daughter, her brow furrowed in concern.

"Honey no, what made you think that?" This time it was Juno who spoke up. 

"Mama was sad this morning." 

"Yeah." Kodi broke in. "She was crying."

Juno suddenly gasped, making Laura take her eyes off the road for a quick glance back at their younger daughter. "What's up June bug?" Laura asked using their pet name for her in a slightly worried tone. 

"Did Mommy do something mean to you?" She questioned, throwing a slightly mutinous look at Carmilla.

Laura couldn't help but laugh, a sweet gentle sound that Carmilla knew she would sorely miss during her tour of duty. 

"No, Sweet Pea. Mommy would never be mean to any of us." She stated, snaking her hand over the center console to intertwine her fingers with Carmilla's. "So much for big, scary Staff Sergeant now, huh?" She said with another glance to the backseat. The three shared smiles and giggled as Carmilla playfully rolled her eyes. 

"I might not be mean, but I can most certainly be rough on occasion." She retorted with a lascivious smirk and a sidelong glance at Laura. 

"Carmilla!" Laura unbelievingly gasped, sending a light swat at Carmilla's shoulder while trying to fight a smile. "Our children are present!" She continued, attempting to stop the pink that was spreading from her cheeks to her ears.

It was little domestic moments like these that Laura and Carmilla reveled in, allowing their minds a break from thinking of Carmilla's impending absence. As they pulled up to the school and Carmilla got out to help the girls, Laura realized that one of the things she was going to miss the most was the way they all interacted as a family. This became even more clear as she watched Carmilla tousle Kodi's honey brown curls and gently kiss Juno's round nose. Laura was reminded everyday that all the money and pain they went through was worth it to have their own biological children. They had the best qualities of both Laura and Carmilla and Laura couldn't have been happier than when she had their two kids. It made Laura's heart sink a little to think of having to celebrate birthdays and holidays without Carmilla home this year. Deciding to think happier thoughts, she stepped out of the car and took Juno's hand and Carmilla took Kodi's. Once Kodi latched on to Juno's other hand their parents were on either side of them, and the Hollis-Karnstein clan made its way into the school. There was one thing that Laura just couldn't shake from her realizations though, without Carmilla, everything was going to feel vastly different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how long this will be but there will be actions bad the pace will pick up! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. And yeah, I know the spacing is a little weird. Feel free to let me know what you think. You can find me on tumblr at izzyvonheeringen.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> This was rather short and I didn't have anyone read this before I posted it and I might change a few things, that being said, all mistakes are my own. I mainly posted this to get a feel for if you guys wanted me to continue or not so feel free to let me know. You can also hit me up on tumblr. Izzyvonheeringen.tumblr.com


End file.
